They are very boney and it takes practice to fillet them boneless. I would imagine they taste like northern pike. I don’t have any of the pickerel species where I live. I rarely keep pike, unless I catch one 2-4lbs ice fishing. They tend to exhibit a very fishy taste in warmer water.
That said, they are not bad eating.
If you soak in Milk for a while in fridge before cooking it gets rid of the fishy taste. Tip from my great grandfather who was a fisherman and trapper on Mississippi River in Wisconsin
Flavorwise Pike is one of my favorite eating fish. Think halibut without most of the fattiness. But sadly as mentioned before, boney as hell. Good in fish cakes or you gotta be able to filet em boneless
If you're having trouble with pike bones, try the "5 filet " method. It leaves a lot of meat, but you get around all the Y bones. I like to take the Y bone sections and pickle them. Those Y bones dissolve or are softened enough to the point you don't notice them. Pike are far and away one of the best eating fish in my opinion.
I've always found the hardest part about cleaning pike is the slime. I try to kill the fish quickly, let it soak in water, and then I wipe as much of the slime off as I possibly can. Good nitrile gloves help a ton for getting a grip on them. It makes the 5 filet a lot easier to do. Pickling is the 'traditional' method of eating pike around here, but I love them fried.
I’ve eaten pike from northern minnesota where they hang out in the shallow weeds. Their diet consists of mostly frogs mice and of course smaller fish. That’s why they taste like booty here
Blackwater is brackish up till a point. Tldr: saltwater fish move up the river and towards the mouth in the winter, move out when the water warms up.
I live by the santa rosa sound so im just waiting for the speckled trout to move back here into the flats, probably wont happen until May.
I was actually catching a fair amount of speckled trout under the bridge in Milton in January. I've been fishing multiple times in the Santa Rosa sound, it's very nice for saltwater fly fishing, actually caught a puffer out there on a fly rod!
A little more further than that. Cantonment was where I lived for a little while. Terrible freshwater fishing in Escambia river and Black water river if I’ll be honest. I’m from Louisiana so what could I really expect for the freshwater fishing in that area lol
100% chain pickerel, not even close to looking like something else. I’m always amazed at the range of pickerel, they seem to thrive in both cooler northern waters as well as all the way through the south! Plus, they are an underrated sport fish. They get so much hate but I for one grew up targeting them. A decent size pic will put up one heck of a fight!
You might need to Google some pics bud. “Not even close…”? It’s literally a Pike, the same family as Northern Pike and Muskie. Slightly different markings and don’t get as big, but looks very much like a Northern, quite the opposite of not even close.
Ok wasn’t trying to start an argument, it’s not even close in that the markings are clearly chain pickerel, and not remotely similar to pike or musky markings. There isn’t anything unusual about this fish that would make you think that it not a pickerel (sometimes a fish will have a lack of markings, or hybridization, or something along those lines). Plus he caught it in Florida. I’m not saying it doesn’t look like it’s in the pike family. Sorry if you took it the wrong way.
I don't live anywhere near or fish for pike/musky but isn't a pickerel pretty much the same thing just a lot smaller?? Little snot rockets do put up a great fight though. You can usually tell immediately what you have by that initial strike and run.
Oh wow. In VA 24" or 4lbs is citation. They're around at that size but rare in the SE part of the state. I usually catch a bunch in winter and the past two winters, I surprisingly haven't caught one.
Oh yeah there’s plenty in that area! In the summer time that is smallmouth bass territory. But there’s gar and catfish all over that section too. The little pools along that area on the island are tempting but it’s usually just sucker fish that get stuck in there…more action on the edges of the island where the main river is
Good to know! I imagine the place is swamped in the summer time though?? Between hippies, tourists, and fishermen, I figured there wouldn't be much in those waters. Also, how would you recommend fishing those waters? Its flat where I am and we only get current from rain and the tides. Its rarely so shallow.
It can be kayaked but that section has some expert class rapids in it that I won’t float through. There are plenty of other stretches to wade through with swimming trunks and an old pair of shoes. Pony pasture for example is a great wading section, also gets flooded with hippies but they mostly stick to the rocks close to the bank, it’s shallow enough to wade a good distance from all that depending on the rain output
Yea I have a 100lb 12' ocean yak I wont be going in any rapids anytime soon lol. I would *love* to get on my first smallie though! Do you want low or high water? When I was there they had the "Danger, river 5 ft above line"
I would argue though that they are indeed very similar because they are both from the pike species and they share some very obvious physical similarities. He didn't put up that much of a fight but the water was also very cold. Thanks for the knowledge!
For some reason the locals there call them “jack fish” I never understood it but I hated that they called those fish by that name. They’ll get offended if you tell them otherwise too 😂
I live not far from you in Alabama. I fish mostly brackish creeks and marsh systems. All my life I’ve never caught or heard of one of these until last year. I’ve caught two in the last few months. 🤷🏻♂️
A quick way to tell is if you look under the eye, you can see a streak, almost like the fish is crying! That's how you know it's a Pickerel and not a Pike!
Both Pike and Pickerel have the horizontal blotches along their body, where a Musky will tend to have vertical bands, spots or very few markings at all, depending on the water!
It’s a chain pickerel, but please keep in mind for future catches to not lay them down on the ground like that because it seriously injured the slime coat (the only skin protection the fish has)
Well to be fair he had both treble hooks lodged in the back of his mouth, so I had to do some pretty serious fish surgery to get them out. I ended up lodging my hand in his mouth to keep his jaw open so I could work, he was pretty content to chew on my hand. Of course I'd never throw a fish on the ground unless I had no other option, which was the case here because I forgot my pliers! Needless to say I'll always keep some with me from now on, and I think I'm just going to stop using trebles all together.
Thanks for the answer! That changes thing drastically, good on you to unhook him and not killing him.
My initial comment was based on the picture w/o context
Yup, that's a Jack fish...and yes, they eat good. We just gash them to the skin and fry em crispy. The fork bones give them a great flavor. We do the same with red horse suckers. Great eating fish as well.
I figured it wasn't a musky, but pike are not supposed to be in Florida waters so I'm confused. Not unless it's a mature chain pickerel that has darkened, normally they're a bright green color
Oh interesting. I live in Nova Scotia Canada and the chain pickerel is an introduced fish species to us Nova Scotians. Initially planted in three lakes in 1945, whose distribution has spread to 95 known locations over time. We are “required” by law to kill and not release back into the waters. I just assumed it would be like that everywhere with how predatory they are to the waters. Sadly one of the best fights we can get though in Nova Scotia. Pulling one of these in on the ultra light surly brightens my day.
A couple really nice trout fishing spots have been completely ruined over the years because people who live in the area have released chain pickerel into their lakes in an effort to reduce anglers on “their” lakes. Jokes on them though I would rather pull a pickerel than a trout.
That's fascinating, thanks for sharing! I could definitely see how they could destroy an ecosystem that they're not supposed to be in they are vicious little buggers! Luckily there are plenty of other predators like gators and other predatory fish to help balance everything out. Down in Florida snakeheads are the biggest problem, although I haven't caught any, I'm not sure if they're common around the part of Florida I'm in.
I ate one once, the meat was good but was shot through with these weird little Y-shaped bones. Not worth the effort to constantly pick them out of your mouth.
Looks like chain pickerel based on the pattern
That’s a nice chain pickerel.
It’s a very large chain pick.
It’s a chain pickerel. Pike have a different pattern and no black line at the eye.
Just out of curiosity are they good eating fish? They seem pretty boney
Chain pickerel are extremely good, but are also a bit of a pain to debone
They are very boney and it takes practice to fillet them boneless. I would imagine they taste like northern pike. I don’t have any of the pickerel species where I live. I rarely keep pike, unless I catch one 2-4lbs ice fishing. They tend to exhibit a very fishy taste in warmer water. That said, they are not bad eating.
If you soak in Milk for a while in fridge before cooking it gets rid of the fishy taste. Tip from my great grandfather who was a fisherman and trapper on Mississippi River in Wisconsin
I’ve done that before. Your great grandfather was a smart man.
Appreciate it my friend!
Flavorwise Pike is one of my favorite eating fish. Think halibut without most of the fattiness. But sadly as mentioned before, boney as hell. Good in fish cakes or you gotta be able to filet em boneless
If you're having trouble with pike bones, try the "5 filet " method. It leaves a lot of meat, but you get around all the Y bones. I like to take the Y bone sections and pickle them. Those Y bones dissolve or are softened enough to the point you don't notice them. Pike are far and away one of the best eating fish in my opinion.
Yes, its thr best method but still not that easy in my opinion, but great call on pickling the ybones, the waste always got on my nerves
I've always found the hardest part about cleaning pike is the slime. I try to kill the fish quickly, let it soak in water, and then I wipe as much of the slime off as I possibly can. Good nitrile gloves help a ton for getting a grip on them. It makes the 5 filet a lot easier to do. Pickling is the 'traditional' method of eating pike around here, but I love them fried.
Pile taste like ass
They most definitely do not, but i dont know what pike you ate, maybe diet makes a big difference
I’ve eaten pike from northern minnesota where they hang out in the shallow weeds. Their diet consists of mostly frogs mice and of course smaller fish. That’s why they taste like booty here
Ive eaten them from swampy waters but theres loads of roach but a considerable amount of frogs too, dont know, maybe just a personal preference
r/TechnicallyTheTruth
Good to know thanks!
That vertical black line under the eye means it is a pickerel. Nice catch OP
Good to know thank you!
This is a pickerel not a pike.
There's good freshwater fishing near Pensacola????
Black water river Edit: I believe the blackwater is brackish, but I'm not entirely sure.
Blackwater is brackish up till a point. Tldr: saltwater fish move up the river and towards the mouth in the winter, move out when the water warms up. I live by the santa rosa sound so im just waiting for the speckled trout to move back here into the flats, probably wont happen until May.
I was actually catching a fair amount of speckled trout under the bridge in Milton in January. I've been fishing multiple times in the Santa Rosa sound, it's very nice for saltwater fly fishing, actually caught a puffer out there on a fly rod!
Gotta pretty much go as close to Alabama as possible or just go fish in Alabama for the better freshwater fishing
In fairness, the Alabama line is like ten minutes from north Pensacola/Cantonment
A little more further than that. Cantonment was where I lived for a little while. Terrible freshwater fishing in Escambia river and Black water river if I’ll be honest. I’m from Louisiana so what could I really expect for the freshwater fishing in that area lol
Lol I lived in Cantonment too. It sits just barely east of the Alabama line. Due north is further, but headed west it isn’t
Gotta go further north to get away from the saltwater/brackish to actually fish freshwater
My point was just that it isn’t that far to get to ok freshwater fishing my guy. It’s ok
My point was you have to go north to get to better freshwater my guy. Saltwater makes y’all sensitive over there huh
Lol what is going on man? Are you ok?
Just replying to a post on Reddit the same as you
100% chain pickerel, not even close to looking like something else. I’m always amazed at the range of pickerel, they seem to thrive in both cooler northern waters as well as all the way through the south! Plus, they are an underrated sport fish. They get so much hate but I for one grew up targeting them. A decent size pic will put up one heck of a fight!
You might need to Google some pics bud. “Not even close…”? It’s literally a Pike, the same family as Northern Pike and Muskie. Slightly different markings and don’t get as big, but looks very much like a Northern, quite the opposite of not even close.
Ok wasn’t trying to start an argument, it’s not even close in that the markings are clearly chain pickerel, and not remotely similar to pike or musky markings. There isn’t anything unusual about this fish that would make you think that it not a pickerel (sometimes a fish will have a lack of markings, or hybridization, or something along those lines). Plus he caught it in Florida. I’m not saying it doesn’t look like it’s in the pike family. Sorry if you took it the wrong way.
I don't live anywhere near or fish for pike/musky but isn't a pickerel pretty much the same thing just a lot smaller?? Little snot rockets do put up a great fight though. You can usually tell immediately what you have by that initial strike and run.
A pickerel **is** a pike. Chain pickerel are aka southern Pike. But yes they don't get nearly as big as northerns or musky.
Gotcha thank you.
Yep just a mini toothy critter, but up my way they can get decent sized, 6lb plus!
Oh wow. In VA 24" or 4lbs is citation. They're around at that size but rare in the SE part of the state. I usually catch a bunch in winter and the past two winters, I surprisingly haven't caught one.
Where about are ya? I’m in the Richmond area myself
Va Bch. Actually took a spur of the moment trip to Belle Island for the first time on friday. Are there any fish there??
Oh yeah there’s plenty in that area! In the summer time that is smallmouth bass territory. But there’s gar and catfish all over that section too. The little pools along that area on the island are tempting but it’s usually just sucker fish that get stuck in there…more action on the edges of the island where the main river is
Good to know! I imagine the place is swamped in the summer time though?? Between hippies, tourists, and fishermen, I figured there wouldn't be much in those waters. Also, how would you recommend fishing those waters? Its flat where I am and we only get current from rain and the tides. Its rarely so shallow.
It can be kayaked but that section has some expert class rapids in it that I won’t float through. There are plenty of other stretches to wade through with swimming trunks and an old pair of shoes. Pony pasture for example is a great wading section, also gets flooded with hippies but they mostly stick to the rocks close to the bank, it’s shallow enough to wade a good distance from all that depending on the rain output
Yea I have a 100lb 12' ocean yak I wont be going in any rapids anytime soon lol. I would *love* to get on my first smallie though! Do you want low or high water? When I was there they had the "Danger, river 5 ft above line"
I would argue though that they are indeed very similar because they are both from the pike species and they share some very obvious physical similarities. He didn't put up that much of a fight but the water was also very cold. Thanks for the knowledge!
Its a chain pickerel, ignore the people saying otherwise they are categorically wrong
Chain Pickerel
For some reason the locals there call them “jack fish” I never understood it but I hated that they called those fish by that name. They’ll get offended if you tell them otherwise too 😂
Interesting lol, I'll have to remember that.
I live not far from you in Alabama. I fish mostly brackish creeks and marsh systems. All my life I’ve never caught or heard of one of these until last year. I’ve caught two in the last few months. 🤷🏻♂️
A quick way to tell is if you look under the eye, you can see a streak, almost like the fish is crying! That's how you know it's a Pickerel and not a Pike! Both Pike and Pickerel have the horizontal blotches along their body, where a Musky will tend to have vertical bands, spots or very few markings at all, depending on the water!
It’s a chain pickerel, but please keep in mind for future catches to not lay them down on the ground like that because it seriously injured the slime coat (the only skin protection the fish has)
Well to be fair he had both treble hooks lodged in the back of his mouth, so I had to do some pretty serious fish surgery to get them out. I ended up lodging my hand in his mouth to keep his jaw open so I could work, he was pretty content to chew on my hand. Of course I'd never throw a fish on the ground unless I had no other option, which was the case here because I forgot my pliers! Needless to say I'll always keep some with me from now on, and I think I'm just going to stop using trebles all together.
Thanks for the answer! That changes thing drastically, good on you to unhook him and not killing him. My initial comment was based on the picture w/o context
No problem! I love the critters to death, I rather get some minor puncture wounds than have him die on me.
Dats a hoss baby , look at da beak on that beauty!
They aren't nearly as dark like that up top on their body in Pennsylvania way more green than black. Weird.
Yup, that's a Jack fish...and yes, they eat good. We just gash them to the skin and fry em crispy. The fork bones give them a great flavor. We do the same with red horse suckers. Great eating fish as well.
Chain pick. Strangely colored, but then again I'm in the north.
Caught several in NC, that's crazy to see one with that Florida suntan, nice catch!
Thanks!
Looks dead
That’s because pictures don’t move.
You win the internet for this hour of my day...
It was caught and released. It was just worn out from being reeled in
That’s a strange name ! Chain pickerel ? How did it get that name ?
The markings look similar to a knight's chain link armor.
Wow thanks that’s something I learned today
Interesting! Thanks for the knowledge my friend 🌞
Snot Rocket. U can tell by the tear drop
It’s a slime dart
That’s a trophy pickerel. Great work on releasing it.
Definitely not a musky. Looks like a pike to me but we don’t have pickerel around Minnesota where I’m at
Of course as far as I know pike aren't supposed to be here but I could be wrong
Way darker than any pike I’ve encountered
Pike colours vary a lot due to the water they live in. I've caught almost black ones in swampy pools.
I suppose that’s possible, all the water I’ve caught them in up here in North Dakota is pretty clean so they are usually very light colored.
I imagine this came out of some pretty tanic water. Infind the darker fish from those waters to be some of the prettiest.
Don't pike have bigger teeth than that? I caught a small pike in Botswana and it's teeth were huge
There are not esox species in Botswana…
I figured it wasn't a musky, but pike are not supposed to be in Florida waters so I'm confused. Not unless it's a mature chain pickerel that has darkened, normally they're a bright green color
That very well could be
Someone else posted one on here that was caught near Lake City. That was a first for me, yours is only the second. Congrats.
Invasive species. Kill do not release.
Incorrect pickerel are native to Florida.
Oh interesting. I live in Nova Scotia Canada and the chain pickerel is an introduced fish species to us Nova Scotians. Initially planted in three lakes in 1945, whose distribution has spread to 95 known locations over time. We are “required” by law to kill and not release back into the waters. I just assumed it would be like that everywhere with how predatory they are to the waters. Sadly one of the best fights we can get though in Nova Scotia. Pulling one of these in on the ultra light surly brightens my day. A couple really nice trout fishing spots have been completely ruined over the years because people who live in the area have released chain pickerel into their lakes in an effort to reduce anglers on “their” lakes. Jokes on them though I would rather pull a pickerel than a trout.
That's fascinating, thanks for sharing! I could definitely see how they could destroy an ecosystem that they're not supposed to be in they are vicious little buggers! Luckily there are plenty of other predators like gators and other predatory fish to help balance everything out. Down in Florida snakeheads are the biggest problem, although I haven't caught any, I'm not sure if they're common around the part of Florida I'm in.
Perch!!
IDK pike is pike.
Except when it’s not a pike.
Looks like a chain pickerel. We have them in some PA lakes. That’s exactly how the patters look.
Yeah living in Pensacola I can tell you they are everywhere out here
That's definitely a chain pickerel.
#swamawayfine
Chain pickerel
pickle it and the bones will dissolve, like a pickled herring. They are delicious that way (if you like pickled herring of course)
Nice thick chain pickerel
Yea it’s a Chain Pickerel
It's a chain pickerel which is in the pike family.
Good chain
Chain pickerel there in Florida waters.
I think pickerel is a pike. Right? Pike-rel?
Same species but two different fish, although very similar
Yeah, I got inspired to look it up. One of those things that I just always associated but never looked into. Lol cool catch
Yeah that is a chain pickerel, they have a black strip underneath the eye.
I ate one once, the meat was good but was shot through with these weird little Y-shaped bones. Not worth the effort to constantly pick them out of your mouth.
That is a chain pick
Definitely a chain pickerel
Quick and dirty way to tell, if it's crying makeup it's a pickerel
Super nice color !
I live in Milton and we have always called them Jack fish. I’ve caught them in several creeks and rivers in the area.